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Huskies Will Be Looking For Revenge In Kalamazoo

Connecticut quarterback Scott McCummings (11) runs the ball with pressure from Western Michigan's Freddie Bishop (97) in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, in East Hartford, Conn., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) _ The Big East is coming to Kalamazoo.
Connecticut will be at Western Michigan on Saturday, the first
time a Big East school will play football at Kalamazoo.

The Huskies will have revenge on their minds after losing to
Western Michigan at home 38-31 a year ago.

UConn (2-1) is coming off a 24-21 victory at Maryland last week
while the Broncos (1-2) are eager to bounce back from a 28-23 loss
against Minnesota.

“Western Michigan has been playing very good teams,” said
UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni. “Alex Carder is back, obviously an
outstanding quarterback. They’ve been playing very good defense.

They changed their defensive philosophy a little bit with an
odd-pressure front. We have to be prepared to play a very physical
and very tough team.”

UConn is one of five programs that Carder has recorded 400 yards
passing against in his career.

“To me, he’s an extremely smart guy, as I watch the film,”
Pasqualoni said. “He has taken them in the no-huddle, the
hurry-up. He’s getting them in the right play. He’s making a lot of
decisions before the snap and is making decisions after the snap as
well. He’s a high-energy, real good leader and throws it really
well. We know that. He threw it for almost 500 yards against us
last year.”

Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit said his team wants to get
ready for the upcoming MAC schedule.

“Our focus is to get better,” he said. “The wins will take
care of themselves.”

UConn is led by Chandler Whitmer with 491 passing yards and Lyle
McCombs with 236 rushing yards through the Huskies’ first three
games.

“We have to stop their run,” Cubit said. “We will have our
work cut for us.

The Huskies are also ranked third in the country in total
defense and sacks, and fifth in both rushing and passing defense.
Sophomore linebacker Yawin Smallwood was named the Big East
Defensive Player of the week after 14 tackles against Maryland,
including 3.5 for losses. Pasqualoni is not anticipating a letdown
from his players following the emotional win over the Terrapins.

“I think that they understand that each week, you start over
again and what you did last week, you hope you build on it,” he
said. “I’m looking for them to come in and be really focused.”
Whitmer agrees.

“It was a good team win at Maryland on the road,” he said.

“We thought it was going to be a pretty hostile environment but we
ended up having a lot of home fans there. So that was nice.
Kalamazoo is going to be crazy, too, so we are just getting ready
to play our game.”